Chimi-Turkey Apres-Ski

I’m sitting at home right now, out sick from work. That’s why the post is a bit late. Bittman was on the today show so that’s kinda cool. I’m probably sick from partying and running around New England for the past 2 weeks, but that’s another story.

One of the things I was doing those past 2 weeks was snowboarding in Vermont. My friend Steph got a turkey from her job in early December and never had a chance to use it over the holidays so she brought it to the condo. Everyone seemed kind of skeptical about eating it because they were sick of holiday turkey and flavors. “No mash” was one request. People pretty much said they wanted it to taste like “not Thanksgiving.” I decided to make a chimichurri sauce and cornbread to go with it. Originally I was also going to make hassleback potatoes that I’ve been seeing on food network lately but we had very limited oven space so last minute I reverted to a simple bacon and potato hash.

This was a brine I made to soak the turkey in overnight. I have never brined a turkey and wanted to try it. This is just a gallon of water with a cup of salt, half cup of sugar, and a few cups of chicken stock and peppercorns. I brought it to a boil, then cooled it for a few hours. Then I put the turkey into a plastic bag and poured the brine over it. We went to bed and then all headed to the mountain in the morning.

At lunch we came back to have some food.

They all went back to the mountain after eating, but I stuck around to start prepping dinner (but first take a quick nap).

I took these pictures when they were all gone. Not bad huh?

The turkey is patted dry and on a bed of onions. I put it in the oven at 500 for a half hour, then at 350 until it was finished.

Everyone got home and wanted to help out. Rich cut up some potatoes.

Mike helped by making gangsta faces.

Here I am trying to make chimichurri with a crappy knife. I used garlic, a lot of parsley, and a smaller amount of cilantro and oregano.

Rich and I have the same color shirts on. Also half the herbs on his shirt are in the meal.

Yum cornbread! I made this before, the recipe is here but with fresh stuff instead of dry onion and canned jalapenos.

This is when the oven fell apart.

Aww poor guy. Why you crying?

We had to try a drumstick.

Not crying anymore.

Whoops I stirred too hard.

Rich, what are you doing in this picture? Have you had it up to here?, or are you saluting.

Ryan grabbing out dinner drinks.

Rich cant wait anymore.

Mike needs to inspect everything as it is being made to make sure he agrees with what’s going on.

I guess I passed the test?

Happy Faces.

Happy “Not Thanksgiving” Everyone.

Turkey
Bring gallon of water with cup of salt, half cup sugar, chicken stock and peppercorns to a boil. Let cool to room temp. Brine turkey in this mixture overnight in fridge. 1 hour before cooking remove from liquid and put on the counter. Pat dry. Preheat oven to 500. Cook for 30 minutes. Lower oven to 350 and cook until finished. I pulled it out at 160 degrees and the carryover brought it to over 170.

Potatoes
Chop bacon, heat on high until almost cooked. Cut potatoes salt and pepper and lightly dust in flour. Add to bacon pot, cook 5 minutes, add diced onions, cook until potatoes are tender and there is some crunchy crusties.

I don’t remember what I was doing, but I guess we can just call it saluting you for the amazing turkey. The potatoes came out mad good, too. I wished we had some dessert or something, but oh well. Candy, grapes, and beer worked well enough.